the dead return to life (this is what forgiveness feels like)
by Someone aka Me
Summary: Charlus helps Dorea go looking for forgiveness from the brother that her family won't admit is still alive.


The thing is, he sees the way her eyes catch on young men with black hair and he knows who she's looking for.

He also knows she would never admit it.

Because to her family, Marius is dead and gone.

Dorea was nine when Marius didn't get his letter. Old enough to remember the way her mother cried. Old enough to remember the look in Marius' eyes.

She doesn't talk about it much, but Charlus has gleaned from cryptic comments that her parents did their best by him. They found him a home.

But they still blasted him off the family tree and never spoke of him again.

Dorea, Charlus knows, misses her brother.

She won't admit it because it's a betrayal of everything the Blacks stand for, but she misses him fiercely, misses him constantly.

Charlus has sympathy for the ache inside of her. He hates to see her hurting when she doesn't have to. And so Charlus digs up a few lesser known tracking spells, and he finds out where Marius is, and he goes to Dorea and hands her the address.

"What is this?" Dorea asks.

"It's where Marius lives. It won't take long to find him, now that you know where to look."

Dorea stares at him, the shock plain in her eyes. "What? How?"

Charlus tips his head. "I wanted to give you a chance. If you wanted it." This answers neither of her questions, he knows, but that's fine. It answers what she didn't ask.

She blinks at him. Then, as she thinks about it, her face turns pensive.

"I want to… but you might have to make me. What if he hates me?" she asks sadly. "I miss him so much it hurts, but… I let them kick him out. I wouldn't expect him to forgive me for that."

"I can't promise that he will," Charlus says, because he promised her he would never lie to her. "But he's family. And… Real love is always chaotic, like fireworks and anger and trauma and affection. That's how you know it's love." And maybe that's just because Charlus is impulsive when it comes to love. But here's the thing. He can't imagine ever being estranged from his family, and… well. He knows that Dorea hates it.

"Will you come with me?" she says.

"Of course I will."

…

The woman who answers the door is tall and dark haired and round. Her eyes are bright, the colour of champagne. The kind of woman Charlus would refer to as a great example of the fairer sex. She looks kind — her smile reaches her eyes, even when she doesn't know them. It's not what Dorea is used to. The Blacks are not friendly to strangers. The Blacks treat unfamiliarity as a weapon.

"Hi," Dorea says nervously.

"Hello," says the woman. "Can I help you with something?"

Charlus stands behind her, trying not to interfere. Dorea shifts with nerves.

"I… Is Marius here?" she asks.

Her face shifts into something more protective. "Who's asking?"

"My name is Dorea. I'm… I'm his sister."

Her champagne eyes shift from suspicion to something softer. "You… can I ask why you're here?"

Dorea sighs. "I… miss him." it feels like an admission of something she shouldn't confess, but it also might be the only way to talk to her brother.

She looks them up and down.

"Okay," she finally says. "Come in, I'll get him."

Dorea walks in, Charlus at her heels. The woman guides them to chairs in the dining room before she disappears into the house. She comes back followed by a young man with dark hair and familiar grey eyes.

Dorea cannot tear her gaze away from him. "Marius," she whispers softly. Marius stares at her in shock.

"Dorea?" he asks.

She smiles. "Hi," she says, somewhat awkward. Charlus takes her hand, and his easygoing calmness soothes her. "Could we… talk?"

Marius hesitates for just a moment, and then he nods. "There's a park just down the road, if you'd like?"

He looks almost as awkward as she feels — he's twenty-five now but she can still see remnants of the gangly young boy he once was.

"That sounds good," she says, her voice pitched soft.

She knows that Marius has scars from the family that abandoned him. She knows that he has many reasons to slam the door in her face, to demand that she leave, but he hasn't yet. It's more than she can ask for.

"This is Charlus," she tells him. "My husband. Would… I mean. Would you prefer it were just us?"

She's comforted by Charlus' presence, but she knows he might not be.

Marius shrugs. "I don't mind."

Charlus looks between them, and then says, "I think I'll stay, if that's all right with you," to the woman who raised Marius.

She smiles. "Of course, dear."

So Dorea and Marius leave the house, dry fall leaves crunching under their feet as they walk.

The leaves are colourful, reds and oranges and faded browns and the wildflowers are dying in the fall air. Dorea looks at them and remembers being six years old, sitting in the gardens with eight year old Marius, holding buttercups under their chins and looking for the yellow glow that meant they liked butter.

This is what she misses. She misses the memories. She misses the boy who remembers her childhood, who lived it side by side with her.

"I'm sorry," she says softly, letting the words reverberate in the dry fall air. "I'm tired of this, missing you, but mostly I'm just sorry."

Marius glances at her, and then sits down on a bench, patting the seat beside him for her to sit.

"I never blamed you, Dorea."

"I blamed myself." she says.

"It wasn't your fault," he says.

And she takes a moment to sigh, and she says, "Two days before your birthday, I wished on a star that you wouldn't get your Hogwarts letter. So you'd stay home. With me."

She's never told anyone that before, but the fact haunts her. She's always wondered if it was her fault — if she made Marius into a Squib because of her wish.

"Be careful what you wish for," Marius says softly, with a smile. "But no. Dorea, your wish didn't make a difference. I knew my letter wasn't coming long before my birthday. I always knew I didn't quite fit. It's not your fault. And besides, at least this way I'm not totally useless to the family. At least I can be used as a bad example." He grins.

And Dorea feels his forgiveness wash over her like a benediction.

She looks at him and she sees the calm certainty of the man Marius has become. He does not look regretful. He doesn't look mournful. He just looks calm.

He is resilient. He always has been. Dorea knows if it had been her, she would never have the level calm that is clear in Marius' pose. If she lost her family, she would be… adrift. Broken.

But Marius is measured and strong and he holds himself with grace, and she loves him.

"Can we… Can we be family again?" she asks.

And Marius smiles at her and says, "Dorea, we always have been."

* * *

World Cup: Switzerland, Charlus and Dorea

Writing Month: 1203

Seasonal: Days of the Year: Forgiveness Day: Write about forgiving someone. Alt, write about being forgiven.

Summer Prompts: (word) Park

Colour Prompts: Champagne

Birthstones: Carnelian - (dialogue) "Real love is always chaotic."

Flowers: Daisy - (scenario) Putting a buttercup under your chin to see if you like butter or not

Element: (word) Dry

Shay's Musical Challenge: Come From Away - write about an unexpected visitor.

Gryffindor Themed Prompts: Impulsive

Character Appreciation: 1. (word) scar

Disney Challenge: S1: I'm Wishing - Write about someone making a wish. Alt, use the dialogue "Be careful what you wish for."

Book Club: Moon Eye: (word) pensive, (emotion) sympathy, (trait) nurturing

Showtime: 2. Emotion: nervous

Count Your Buttons: "young" W1

Lyric Alley: 31. I've been livin' without a family since I was a child

Ami's Audio Admirations: Belinda Blinked — Write Smut. Alt. Use the prompt set: (action) blinked, (word) sex, (dialogue) "Make me."

Sophie's Shelf: 34. Prompt: (word) Weapon

Emy's Emporium: I3: (trait) resilient; G3: (trait) easygoing

Lo's Lowdown: "I'm not totally useless. I can be used as a bad example."

Bex's Biscuit Barrel: Digestive; [word] Crunch/Crunchy; [Emotion] Sad; [Dialogue] "I miss him/her so much it hurts."

Pinata: Romance

Funfair: North:ghost train: colour: black South:Bumper cars: "I'm tired of this." East: hook a ship: fireworks

Hamilton Mania: Act 2, 8: Jealousy - (relationship) siblings, prompt 8: Marius Black

Canada Day: 4. (band) Great Big Sea - "It won't take long to find him."

Insane House: trait: nurturing


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